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Ceumannan // Footsteps | Anne Martin and Jason Singh

Ceumann // Footsteps brings together contemporary sound artist Jason Singh with Skye-based Gaelic musician Anne Martin in an intercultural exchange exploring the artists’ personal biographies. Drawing from parallels in the landscapes, storytelling of the Isle of Skye and Northern India and the complementary harmonic traditions of Gaelic and Indian Raga they co-created new musical compositions.

As part of the official Hull UK City of Culture 2017 programme, the New Music Biennial will showcase the talent of the UK’s music sector, raise the profile of composers and performers, and present a snapshot of new music across all genres. The biennial will feature twenty pieces – ten of these have been curated by programme partners while the other ten were selected through an open call of five new commissions and five existing pieces composed in the twenty-first century.

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Footsteps project set to make its mark at UK City of Culture Festival

An exciting inter-cultural project fusing Gaelic and Indian songs, music and heritage will be performed as part of the UK City of Culture 2017 Festival taking place in Hull this summer.

The project; Ceumannan // Footsteps, commissioned by ATLAS Arts, explores the vocal similarities between Gaelic and Indian work-songs, rhythms and beats, and examines the common histories found within the respective cultures.

The artists will perform alongside multi-instrumentalist Joe Harrison and Indian musicians, Sharat Chandra Srivastava and Gyan Singh, whom they worked with in the development of the project during a three-week research trip to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Northern India.

Jason Singh and Anne Martin will also perform Ceumannan //Footsteps to open the 26th annual Fèis an Eilean, Skye Festival, curated by Skye-based arts organiser, SEALL (Skye Events For All) and held at venues across the Sleat peninsula of the island.

This summer’s festival dates follow on from Singh and Martin’s headline performance at BLUE SKYE: LAND, an event curated by ATLAS Arts as part of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Festival on New Year’s Day 2016 held at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.

This journey took the collaborative sound-making practice of Martin and Singh on a three-week research trip exploring the vocal similarity between Gaelic and Indian work-songs, rhythms and beats – whilst looking at the common histories found in these two cultures.

Martin and Singh in Lucknow with some well-used bagpipes!

Gyan Singh in the recording studio with Martin and Singh in New Delhi.

Ceumann // Footsteps | Those involved

Artists

Anne Martin: Born and brought up in the Isle of Skye, Anne Martin first developed a passion for singing and researching Gaelic song as a child and has since gone on to captivate audiences across four continents during her career so far. Described by The Scotsman as ‘awesomely beautiful,’ Martin’s repertoire connects the idiosyncrasies, traditions and stories of a passing culture to the modern day with a poetic elegance.

Jason Singh: Based in London, Jason Singh is a beatboxer, vocal sculptor and sound artist. Singh’s impressive canon of work, which is rooted in inspiring and engaging audiences through voice, technology, performance and participation, includes collaborations with such artists as Nitin Sawhney, Rokia Traorè and Sebastian Rochford. This year he will be resident artist in Hull as part of the Hull 2017 City of Culture and the PRS New Music Biennial.

Sharat Chandra Srivastava: With a career spanning over 25 years, Sharat Chandra Srivastava is one of the foremost classical violinists in north India. From Indian classical music to funk, from jazz to rock, his musical oeuvre is as eclectic as it is celebrated. As a member of New Delhi fusion-band, Mrigya, Sharat has performed around the globe and collaborated with the likes of Sting, AR Rahman and Peter Robert Lockett. In addition to performing, he has also taught violin in India, Switzerland, and as a visiting professor at The University of Edinburgh and Glasgow University.

Gyan Singh: An accomplished Hindustani classical Tabla player with years of dedicated training under the guidance of the late Ustad Abdullah Khan, Gyan Singh has played in a variety of prestigious festivals such as Sahitya Kala Parishad’s Jhankar Ustav, Khajuraho millennium festival and Delhi International Arts Festival. He has also performed as part of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s Orchestra and been recognised with numerous awards and accolades over the course of his career.

Joe Harrison-Greaves: Having spent over a decade working as a professional musician across a broad range of community and education positions, in 2011, Joe Harrison-Greaves co-founded the Slow Education movement, which challenges the paradigms of traditional learning through promoting a broad curriculum to recognise the talents of all students. He has also worked for the BBC and the Guildhall of Music as a musical director, facilitator and project manager.

Organisations

Hull UK City of Culture 2017: Awarded every four years to a city that demonstrates the belief in the transformational power of culture, Hull was chosen from a strong field of 11 contenders across the United Kingdom as the UK City of Culture for 2017.

Over the course of the year, Hull will deliver a transformative programme of arts and culture celebrating the unique character of the city, its people, history and geography. To deliver on this promise, Hull City Council set up Hull UK City of Culture 2017 as an independent company and charitable trust. The team is now working hard to deliver 365 days of transformative cultural activity in 2017.

Hull has placed young people at the forefront of its programme, by giving every young person of school age the opportunity to participate in 2017 as well thousands of volunteers who will help deliver the year.

The programme which began on 1 January, and runs through to 31 December, is split into four seasons, each with something distinctive and intriguing to say, and each created to challenge and thrill.

Performing Rights Society (PRS) for Music Foundation: As the UK’s leading funder of music across all genres, the PRS for Music Foundation seeks to stimulate and support the creation and performance of new music throughout the UK and to ensure that this music is enjoyed by a wide audience.

The PRS Foundation operates an open grant scheme four times a year – available to musicians and organisations, and partnership programmes in response to specific needs and gaps in funding. Since the year 2000, the foundation has cultivated a strong track-record as a funder of a broad range of activity – from unsigned band showcases and professional development programmes to music commissions and composer residencies.

New Music Biennale 2017: Taking place as part of the official Hull UK City of Culture 2017 programme, the New Music Biennial 2017 is a PRS for Music Foundation initiative which aims to showcase the talent of the UK’s music sector, raise the profile of composers and performers, and present a snapshot of new music across all genres. Comprising of 20 pieces, the New Music Biennale Programme will be performed at Hull UK City of Culture (1 & 2 July 2017) and London Southbank Centre (7-9 July 2017). The selected works will be recorded and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.